1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a lever-type connector with a wire cover.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,486 and FIG. 14 herein show a lever-type connector. With reference to FIG. 14, the connector has a male and female housings 1 and 2 that are connectable with each other. Wires 3 are drawn out through the upper surface of the female housing 2 and a wire cover 4 is mounted on the female housing 2 for covering the wires 3. Locking projections 5 are provided on the outer periphery of the upper surface of the female housing 2 and engage resilient locking pieces 6 at the opening edge of the wire cover 4.
Cam grooves 7 are formed in a lever 8 that is supported rotatably on the male housing 1, and follower pins 9 are provided on the female housing 2. A cam action is developed between the cam grooves 7 and the follower pins 9 as the lever 8 is rotated and the cam action connects the housings 1, 2 together.
The opening edge of the cover 4 can widen due to connect of external matter with the cover 4 or due to a bending or pulling force on the wires 3. Such a deformation of the cover 4 may disengage the locking pieces 6 from the locking projections 5 and may disengage the cover 4 from the female housing 2.
Such a problem has been dealt with by forming the cover 4 of a PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) to increase the rigidity of the cover 4 and to suppress the widening deformation of the opening edge of the cover 4. However, the use of expensive PBT increases production costs, and there is a need for improvement.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problems and an object thereof is to effectively prevent a wire cover from disengaging.
The invention is directed to a connector with a housing connectable with a mating housing. A wire cover is resiliently mountable on the housing by at least one locking portion for at least partly covering one or more wires drawn out from the housing. An operable member is mountable on the housing. The operable member has cam surface that can interact with a follower on the mating housing. The housing is connectable with and separatable from the mating housing by a cam action of the cam surface and the follower as the operable member is operated. The operable member substantially covers the locking portion between the cover and the housing through substantially the entire movable range of the operable member.
The operable member mounted on the housing prevents the locking portion of the wire cover from widening in a way that could disengage the cover from the housing. Thus, the wire cover need not have a higher rigidity than necessary and can be made of an inexpensive synthetic resin.
The operable member preferably is a rotatable or pivotable lever mountable on the housing. Thus, the two housings are connected with and separated from each other by cam action as the lever is rotated.
The locking portion between the cover and the housing preferably is covered by the lever in the entire rotatable or pivotal range of the lever.
The locking portion for the cover may also serve as a locking portion for holding the operable member at a specified position. Thus, the connector can be constructed simply.
A locking projection on the housing preferably engages both a locking hole of the wire cover and a locking hole of the operable member.
Operable member locking means may be provided on the operable member, the housing and/or the mating housing to lock the operable member in the position where the two housings are connected properly. The operable member locking means may comprise an unlocking guide surface for guiding a disengagement of the locking means when a force of a specified intensity or higher acts to move the housing away from the mating housing and/or acts on the operable member.
The operable member preferably comprises one or more arms, which substantially press the locking portion from outside to prevent the locking portion and/or a portion of the wire cover from widening.
The operable member preferably comprises a pair of arms and an operable portion connecting the arms and the housing is between the arms.
The invention also relates to a connector assembly comprising the above-described connector and a mating connector connectable therewith.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and accompanying drawings. It should be understood that even though embodiments are separately described, single features thereof may be combined to additional embodiments.